66 Achieving a fair and sustainable trade in devil’s claw (Harpagophytum spp.)Global patterns of trade in Harpagophytum are far more uniform, albeit
more complex, than those described at the local level. An intricate web of
importers, traders, wholesalers, processors, and retailers are engaged in
marketing, branding and adding value to devil’s claw, with the largest and
most established markets by far being those in Germany. Five to 10 companies
dominate the European trade, the most predominant being the German Martin
Bauer Group, estimated to control 75% of world trade in devil’s claw. Important
subsidiaries recently established under the Martin Bauer umbrella include Paul
Muggenburg, responsible for supplying and sourcing raw material; Plant Extract,
which produces extracts; and Finzelberg GmbH and Co., which manufactures
herbal extracts for the pharmaceutical industry.POLICY ENVIRONMENT
For the most part, devil’s claw is extracted in the communal areas of Namibia,
Botswana, and South Africa. Most of these areas have suffered a long and
chequered history under years of colonial and apartheid administration and,
more recently, through a suite of problematic government policies that
discriminate against the use of non-timber forest products such as devil’s
claw. In Botswana, for example, the 1975 Tribal Grazing Land Policy and 1991
National Agricultural Development Policy have been central in diminishing
access of rural people to natural resources, instead reserving communal areas
for grazing to accommodate increased beef production (Molebatsi and
Atlhopheng 1998). This has been accompanied by the privatisation and fencing
of communal grazing areas. The increasing enclosure of communal lands through
private fencing is also a trend in Namibia, stemming partly from a legal vacuum
in regard to ownership and management of these areas. The lack of tenure
security is a major constraint precluding more effective management of devil’s
claw in Namibia, where communities face difficulties in excluding others from
extracting the resource on their lands. The problem is particularly acute in
the study area, where customary controls have been steadily eroded through
resettlement and social dislocation. As in Botswana, Namibian policies such as
the 1995 Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act and the 2000 Communal
Land Bill have set forth new agendas on fencing and individual leasehold tenure
(Alden Wily 2000). Concern has been expressed about the inappropriate
adoption of the titling model by these new laws, based on Western notions of
ownership rather than African systems of tenure (Cousins 2002).
A more conducive policy environment exists for the management of devil’s
claw, and a variety of laws and policies aim to control its exploitation and trade
in the region. These date back to the 1970s and the onset of growth in
international trade of the species. In Namibia, the first efforts to control
exploitation of devil’s claw were introduced in June 1975 with the declaration
of H. procumbens as a protected plant under Schedule 9 of the Nature
Conservation Ordinance (4 of 1975) and the introduction of a permit system to
control the gathering, purchase and export of plant material. While the permit
system for exporting material worked relatively well, that for controlling
harvesting proved extremely problematic. This resulted in permit requirements
for harvesting, possession and transportation being suspended in 1986, and
maintained for export and phytosanitary purposes only.04devilcslaw.P65 66 22/12/2004, 11:04